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[Kristin Meredith]

Bentley and I often have this debate about bbq styles.  He agrees that, at one time, regional styles really dominated.  You found brisket in Texas, never in Georgia.  You had to go to the Carolinas for mustard and vinegar sauces or whole hog.  Kansas City was all about tomatoey sweetness and Tennessee was the home of the red hot sauce. Having lived most of my life in California, I think our style is to cover everything in avocado.

But he thinks that, with the rise of professional comp teams that taught classes all over the country and bbq shows on TV, all styles of bbq have migrated everywhere and can be found everywhere -- in both restaurants and the backyard.  It is certainly true here in Mayberry -- the few bbq restaurants offer something for every "regional" taste.  But we are also in No. Virginia and somewhat of a crossroads anymore with DC so close.

I am not so sure.  Yes, I can now get pulled pork in Texas and the internet let's me order sauces from everywhere and try at home,  but I still think that folks gravitate to what they were raised on and know best, even if they do go outside the lines sometimes.  And I wonder if most small bbq joints in a region don't stick with the "regional style". 

What about where you live -- both the bbq restaurants and how you cook?

[Jcorwin818]

Here in KC I think everything has stayed pretty much the same which I would rate it 90% traditional and the balance more competition style.  The other parts of the country I have been in I would rate 75% traditional and 25% let's call it new age.  It is changing but slowly.  JMO

[riverrat49]

Eastern WA may as well be Mayberry it's almost a food wasteland...

[sleebus.jones]

I think restaurants are doing whatever it takes to bring revenue in the doors.  If throwing a butt on alongside the brisket brings more people in the door, why not?  I live in Texas, so brisket is still king, but I do far more pork butts once I discovered them.  My main reason is price.  Once the rest of America discovered brisket, the price skyrocketed.  Getting brisket on sale for $0.99/lb was not uncommon.  Nowadays finding it below $2/lb is a challenge it seems.  Butt shows up regularly at $0.99/lb, so that's my go-to for the moment.

I think regional styles will always prevail, but now folks will have options from other regions.

[Greg1]

I live in Central Indiana and we don't have a lot of bbq joints and even fewer that I would classify as good bbq joints.  Most everything you find around here is going to be served with a thick sweet bbq sauce.  I agree with what was said that with America's discovery of brisket and the rapid price increase of it, other regions are finding the value of pork they say 10 years ago may not have served pork.  I would say that its still 75%-25% on a regional basis.  I enjoy getting out and trying new regional favorites.  Really enjoyed are trip to Alabama and the white sauced chicken.  I will also give credit to Big Bob Gibson's as well the brisket was great.

[LowSlowJoe]

Here in southeastern Michigan we never had any BBQ traditions... Detroit however has historically been sort of a melting pot , as a result of people moving up from the south to get jobs in factories... ( and from other places too )...  but I never really had any direct knowledge about any BBQ traditions... at least not until I was much older and on my own started to research BBQ , it was only then that I came to hear about people in different areas had different ways to do things.

  Funny, I never tasted  a mustard based sauce until one day back about 20 years ago, that I went to the "Tunnel BBQ" in Windsor Ontario.. ( just on the other side of the Detroit to Windsor tunnel ).  There may have been some mustard based BBQ sauces around Michigan at that time, or before, but I sure never had come across any before then.

  But anyway...   I do think that the lines between regions are blurrier and blurrier all the time.

[Bentley]

I think you misunderstood my comments, they were based on KCBS Competitions through out this country.  That I believe has become sickeningly homogenous...I have not judged in 3 years, so maybe I am wrong.  But there are and will always be regional BBQ flavors...

[Kristin Meredith]

A lot more folks on the site then when this was first discussed.  Any additional thoughts?

[Just David]

It's an interesting concept. I live in Texas and I see more and more people liking pulled pork (and admitting to it). Fifteen years ago that would have been unheard of. For me, I currently like pulled pork even more than brisket; in the past I wouldn't eat pork when brisket was an option. Maybe it is just my taste buds changing, but I do wonder if it is because my BBQ prejudices are changing instead.

[triplebq]

I think we are becoming a melting pot. You see BBQ on TV and all over social media. I didn't know what brisket was 10 years ago. Now I cook it more for people than anything else.

[pmillen]

What about where you live -- both the bbq restaurants and how you cook?

I was well past middle age before I discovered that there is any BBQ style other than Kansas City tomatoey sweetness.  I lived in Nebraska, Minnesota, Canada, North Dakota and Nebraska again, in that order.  That was how mama cooked and it was what I found in restaurants, although I don't recall eating Canadian BBQ.

So, Northern mid-North America must be predominately KC.

I was asked about my style a while back and couldn't answer.  See this post.